Anyone who thinks this doesn't happen in America hasn't spent much time in the Appalachian Mountains. I grew up in Kentucky and I can tell you that with regularity there will be kids with deformation, retardation, and more instances of rare conditions. Yes, there's a lot of factors not involving the mining industry there, but the heavy metals and poisons in the water aren't helping.

I can't recall how many people I've known born with cleft palates or club feet or other badness. One guy I went to school with had his pupil connected to the white of his eye, completely through the iris. Diane Sawyer knows what I'm talking about.

It may be possible that some of the same conditions in Kentucky are present in Shanxi, like inbreeding, drugs, teen pregnancy, alcohol, smoking, and just a bad lot of genes.

Though, I do find it humorously ironic that the guy is complaining about the bad air while smoking.